The Crimson Tithe

"You're all kinds of pleasing to me." She said, kicking a leg up and over his body. Sliding up on top of him, she straddled his hips and ground her pubis down into his. "Think that you can be pleasing to me again?" she asked as she reached up and started undoing the braids of her hair to let it all cascade down her back and shoulders.

Geir was hard again in a moment at just her eagerness alone. Moments later after sliding down his shaft, she was pleasing to him by shouting her own orgasmic joy to the heavens.

*
John swallowed and steeled himself to face down one of satan's beasts in its own lair. Take care of the werewolves first, deal with the spawn of satan later... he kept on mentally telling himself as he made his way into a small secluded cave about halfway up the eastern mountains. The snow gave way to dirt as he followed the hooved tracks in. Then there were various animal bones littering the floor of the cave, some of which still had some meat and sinew on them.

"Leeeeeeave Mortal..." The Minotaur's monstrous voice came from within the darkness.

John stood his ground despite every fiber of his being wanting to turn tail and run. "We have the same goal," he called out. "You want the werewolf dead. So do I. So let us kill it together. I can get my Kara back and then I'm sure that you can take a girl from the werewolves for your own. It will be a win-win for us both."

There was a pause and John could make out the monster's breathing. What was it doing? What was it thinking? Nevertheless John kept still as it contemplated its decision. He reeled back when the Minotaur suddenly appeared in the morning light that shone into the cave.

The Minotaur pointed at him. "Your wooooords have treachery behind theeeeem..." he growled in accusation. "I can seeeee riiiight through them, Mortal... You wish our destuctiooooon after your goal is met... This cannot be allowed..." The Minotaur shook its head and let out an angry snort. "You will be our meal for this daaaaaay..."

"Wait! Don't kill me!" John cried out in panic, holding up a forestalling hand. "We can come to an agreement!"

"Bring me another maaate..." The Minotaur said at once. "From your village..."

"No! I cannot do that! A werewolf, sure, but not a human!" There was no way he'd subject a proper human to enslavement to a monster. That was an unholy abomination. Even if he wanted to he couldn't since he couldn't get back into the village anymore... even though that bitch Diana that sold him out came to mind as a proper slave to this creature.

"You willlll taaaaaake me to your village and I willll claim a new maaaaaate..." The Minotaur said, reaching out for John as he screamed in horror.

***

CHAPTER 7:

"Hey! Wake up in there you two!" the shout came with insistent pounding on the door to Geir and Kara's cabin. "Or stop fucking if that's what you're still doing. That Minotaur of yours is on the loose!"

Both of them were awake and out of the bed in an instant. It was Geir who got to the door first to see his friend Hagen there. "Where?" Geir asked at once.

Hagen took a quick, appreciative glance inside past him at Kara's nude form as she searched for something to wear inside of Geir's armoire before answering. "Middle of the woods heading west towards the main path. Our gatherers saw him and the scouts and I started tailing him. Damn thing too as I was coming back to report; he had some human by the neck as they walked. The human kept on trying to lead him in our direction and the Minotaur kept on wrenching him back to the main path."

"Are they coming here?" Geir wondered.

"We don't know yet. I've instructed my scouts to send a runner back the moment they know for sure which way they're headed." He jerked his head back and towards the center of town. "I'm heading in to report to the Pack Alphas if you all want to come."

"So why are we sitting here talking then?" Kara asked. Geir and Hagen both did a double take when they saw her standing nearby with her fists on her hips, looking at them expectantly. She'd found one of Geir's furred hunting tunics that was entirely too large for her but she made work by wearing it as a one-piece short skirt by cinching a belt around her waist. Her legs were bare down to her knees where they disappeared into two of his furred boots.

"Damn," Hagen couldn't help but comment. Geir backhanded him out the door before closing it so he could get dressed real quick.

Ten minutes later and after Hagen relayed his information to the Pack Alphas, who were now in human form and wearing hunting leathers, another scout came running in to the main den hall in werewolf form. "The human and the Minotaur have changed direction. They are heading straight for the gates of the Five Villages."

"The Lupercalia Festival!" Kara gasped. "Everyone is going to be out in celebration today! That thing is going to tear right through them all!"

"So what is the worry?" Jarl scoffed. "The humans have strong, tall walls with guards along it. They should be able to keep out one Minotaur."

"Not during the festival! It's the only three days they ever get off in a row thanks to the treaty," Kara protested. "We have to go stop The Minotaur." When she saw their worried expressions, she knew something was up. "What? What are you not telling me?"

The Astrid made to say something then bowed her head as she thought better of it. "We haven't fought a pitched battle against something like this in a very long time. We have become... complacent. Normally just our presence here alone drives others off and protects the villages but we have not had to fight in at least a generation and so we do not have real warriors. Your Crimson Village guards would probably be better suited than we would be."

"Are you serious?" Kara gasped. Jarl nodded somberly and Kara snorted. "Well then I think that you need to get trained to fight in a hurry to defend your territory from this thing."

"Outside of Geir, Hagen, and a few others, we don't have many warriors. Most of our young pups who have the chops to be warriors venture out on their own to join other packs where there is conflict or start dens of their own."

Kara was fuming now to the point that her vision went red. She blinked as it returned to normal and wondered where that came from. Shaking it off quickly she laid into the so-called 'Alphas' of the pack. "I suggest that you... we... get in some fighting experience then by protecting the villages."

"And if we don't?" Astrid asked with an arched eyebrow. Now that she was in human form Kara saw that she looked like a fit woman in her late sixties even though Geir noted that they've been leading the pack for some time longer than that. "If we order the pack to leave the humans to their own devices?

"Then the treaty between the Five Villages and the Werewolf Pack is void." Kara pointed an accusing finger at the Alpha Couple. "That means that you two aren't really Alphas that are looking out for the best interests of the pack," she turned and faced Geir, "you're not my mate," she spread her hands imploringly "and none of this means a damn thing since I can't be held to the conditions of the Village Sacrifice."

"I am your mate!" Geir protested, getting up close to her and growling.

"Then prove it!" Kara snarled back at him that sounded surprisingly like a werewolf's snarl. "Uphold the treaty!"

Geir looked into her angry blue eyes that glared daggers up at him. But he saw something else there too as he felt the thoughts flow from her mind into his as their bond grew ever stronger; hurt, pain, fear. It wasn't fear of battle. No... she was ready to go out and fight the Minotaur again despite what it tried to do to her last night. No... it was fear of losing her family.... Her friends...

Her pack...

Head snapping to look at the Alpha Couple, Geir came to an instant decision. "If you don't order the pack out to protect the humans, I will. And then when I return I will challenge you for the right to lead this pack because my mate is correct; if we do not uphold our end of the bargain then why should the humans continue to supply their women for breeding stock for us?"

Jarl nodded somberly again. "You are correct... son." He said at last. "Assemble the pack. We go to war."

Kara smiled with glee until that last word hit her. "Wait, son?" she asked, head whipping back and forth between Jarl and Geir.

"Surprise!" Geir said as he threw his head back and started to transform.

*

"Oooooopen the gate..." The Minotaur told John, shaking him by the scruff of the neck where he still had a hold of the human.

"I can't," John said, gritting his teeth from where he was being jostled. "It's locked on the other side and there is no way to open it from this side."

Instead of argue the point, the Minotaur reared back and threw John up and over the gates. John screamed the entire way over until he hit the ground on the opposite side. "Oooooopen!" he bellowed, "Or be cursed forever!"

John couldn't believe it. The beast actually thought that he would do it too. But then the threat of a curse gave him pause. "Why?" he asked, rising to his feet in challenge. He could see the thing glaring at him through the cracks between the wood. "You just gave me my freedom! Tah-Ta!"

The moment John turned to leave, the Minotaur reached out his hand and clasped it as if he were grabbing an imaginary ball in mid-air. John reeled in sudden pain around his skull as if the Minotaur's hand were on top of his head, squeezing, trying to crush it. "Alright! Alright!" John yelled. "Stop! Please!" The pain then lessened but did not go away completely. John got the idea that the Minotaur was not going to stop using whatever unholy magic it had on him until he did the beast's bidding.

Even though he really did not want to do this, John undid the latches and slides to the gate before getting under the heavy bar to push it up and out of the way. The moment it thudded into the ground, the Minotaur kicked the gates open, knocking John backwards to the base of one of the guard towers. His head made a sickening crunch when he slid up against one of the support pylons. In a daze, he tried to get to his feet and regain some semblance of control of the situation. "There... you're in..." he said, his words slurring a bit. "Now... there... there is this one bitch you can have; her name is D... Diana."

The Minotaur paused as he was walking in to regard him. Then it threw back his horned, bullhead and let out an evil, snorting laughter. "Yoooouuu are finished..." it said, backhanding John hard across the face, snapping his head around so hard to send the human crashing back down to the ground where he lay there unmoving.

John's last fleeting thought before blackness claimed him was that he could have sworn that he heard howling off in the distance.

*

As the pack ran through the woods on a direct route from the den village to the five villages, Geir couldn't help but constantly look sideways at Kara as they ran. He was running slower than the rest of the pack, who was already out distancing them, as he didn't want to leave his mate behind. He'd seen her eyes flash red when she called out his parents. Usually that did not happen until the third day.

Already she had tripped three times by her own legs as they ran. He could tell that her mind was in flux since she wanted to run faster and run with the pack. Her body was telling her that she could and wanted to change to do so but her mind was still telling her that it was impossible to do.

Kara suddenly let out a weird sound that sounded like a strangled cry and a wolf's growl all mixed into one. She jumped and flailed about, arms pin wheeling in the air when they went over a small embankment. With her legs giving out on her, she rolled to absorb the crash landing and then lay still on her back, eyes darting around in confusion. "What..." she panted, "what is happening to me today?"

"You're changing." Geir said simply as he padded his way to her on all fours. When he got to her side he rose up to kneel next to her, cradling her head underneath of his hand gently. "This is the first time I have ever seen it happen this quickly. Normally you would have three days to adjust. Maybe the stress of our impending battle is having the lycanthropy travel faster through your body from the blood pumping." His mouth opened in a smile of amusement. "Then again us mating three times already, another thing that usually doesn't happen that often as girls taken from your village are only taken once a day until they are ready, could have done it as well."

"Ch-Changing?" Kara asked, breathing heavily to the point that her breasts were heaving under the tunic. "Into one of you?"

Geir nodded. "It was another reason for me biting your neck when I first had you; to introduce our abilities into your body so that you would be one of the pack. Why else do you think that none of the tribute girls ever returned to the village to visit friends and family?"

"You're... you're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Kara's eyes were dilated and flashing red now. Her mouth opened into a wordless scream as her whole body shook.

Reaching down with his claws, Geir ripped the front of her tunic open and then stripped the boots off of her. "You're thinking too much about this. Clear your mind and let it happen. Allow your body to change!" he said insistently.

Still shuddering, Kara managed a couple of quick nods. Another wave of pain washed over her and she arched her back and then curled into a ball. Then she was thrashing about so much that Geir had to hold her steady. "AHHHHHHHH!" Kara screamed as the pain became unimaginable... it was a scream that turned into a long, drawn out howl to the heavens.

Then it was over and Kara blinked as she looked around. She looked up at Geir in confusion. Geir was smiling down at her and he held out his clawed hand to her. Wary, she took it and surprised to see that her own hand was clawed as well with soft, light brown fur now covering. Panic gripping her, she now looked for some kind of reflective surface. When she got up to unsteady feet she noticed that she was slightly taller now; to the point that Geir was when he was in human form.

Geir steadied her and led her over to the nearby stream where he indicated that she should look into the water where a small pool had formed. Kara slowly approached it to look at it. The face of a feminine looking werewolf with a mane of golden hair over light reddish brown fur stared back at her with equal surprise.

Kara jerked back in shock as she looked down at her own body. Not only was she taller, she was also proportionately larger to her human body with all of her curves intact in all the right places. Now, though, instead of pale white skin she had fur covering her from head to toe... or... er... paw now. Peering suspiciously at her own feet, she wiggled the toes of the paw tentatively to watch them move. Then it was back down at her naked, legs, thighs, abdomen, and breasts, feeling up each as she examined herself. She couldn't see her own nipples and gave her own breasts a squeeze, feeling relief when her nipples perked up from under the fur.

"This... is me?" she asked, her voice sounding a bit gruffer than she was used to.

"And you're the most beautiful specimen of werewolf that I have ever laid eyes on," Geir said. "We can explore your new form in-depth later. Now I believe that there are some humans that we needed to save?"

"Yes," Kara said, standing up and then toppling over on her new, unsteady wolf legs. Geir took a moment to show her how to run on all fours. A few minutes later they were off and running at full speed to catch up to the pack.

When they got to the village, they stopped at the open gates. "Oh this can't be good." Kara said, slowing down to a trot. Her newfound werewolf sense of smell caught something familiar nearby. She turned to see the broken and bleeding form of John in a crumpled mess over by the guard tower. "Oh John, what did you do?" She padded over to him and rolled him over, jumping back in surprise when he let out a moan.

"K-Kara?" John asked with unfocusing eyes when he looked up at her. They narrowed in on her and he let out a small harrumph. "You've changed into one of them," he said accusingly as he spat out a wad of blood. "I guess that you truly did make your choice then... wrong as it may be."

"You will never understand." Kara replied with sorrow in her voice.

"Doesn't matter... the Minotaur is going to rip the villages to shreds and I'm going to be dead here in a minute anyway." He swallowed hard as the inevitable rapidly approached. "For what it's worth; I'm sorry." He then let out a ragged breath as his eyes lost focus. His head rattled to the side as the life left his body.

"Come, we must hurry," Geir said. He paused. "Mourn later," he added softly.

"I only mourn those that deserve it. He brought this down upon himself" Kara hissed but gave John's body one last look. "May that single god of yours that you spoke so fondly of welcome you into whatever afterlife you believe in," she said in one final parting shot before loping off towards the Crimson Village with her mate.

***

CHAPTER 8:

It was not a pretty sight in the center of the Crimson Village by the time Kara and Geir got there. Already there were bodies of men and women strewn about as the Minotaur had started his rampage in search of a proper mate. The bodies of a few members of the werewolf pack were also lying dead and broken alongside some of the humans they had attempted to protect. Smashed in walls, kicked in doors and windows, and partially collapsed buildings gave testament to the destructive power of a single angry Minotaur.

When they got to the center of town they found more bodies but in fewer numbers as most of the humans had retreated into their homes by this time. The pack had the Minotaur surrounded and were making quick, light attacks; nipping at the Minotaur's flanks to weaken him. Every so often the Minotaur would make a lunge or a grab at a passing fleeing human only to be cut off by a pair of werewolves. This strange dance went on for minutes until the Minotaur spied a particularly beautiful woman that he really liked and went full bore for her.

Two greyish werewolves closed ranks and put the screaming human woman to their backs. They rushed in and slashed and bit at the Minotaur with everything that they had when it became apparent that the Minotaur was not going to retreat again. The Minotaur never stopped as he trampled one, breaking their neck, and used its massive hands to snap the other in half like a twig. Both grey werewolves were dead before they knew what happened.

"MOTHER! FATHER! NO!" Geir roared in anguish as he rushed forward at full speed.

Kara matched him and even passed him as she got used to her new form. She heard Geir call out a warning but she paid him no heed. This was going to end now before anyone else, human or werewolf, got hurt. Bellowing out a challenging howl to the Minotaur, Kara ran right for it. The Minotaur saw her and turned in place, ready for the new attack.

However, instead of leaping right in for the kill, Kara stopped and turned in place to hunch down on her arms. The Minotaur's intended grab went over her and he came up with nothing but air. Kara reared her hind legs in as she leaned forward and then mule-kicked back at him with all of her newfound supernatural strength.

The Minotaur's genitals were instantly crushed under the mighty blow of the double foot kick. Just like before he screamed in pain, louder than ever before to the point that Kara swore that all of the Five Villages heard him. She scrambled out of the way before he came crashing down to his knees.